TOP5

This semester, there is a new program called Emerging Leadership Program which every Fontbonne student can apply to. I was so lucky to have the opportunity to join this program and attend the retreat last weekend.

This retreat was held on the Toddhall retreat center in Columbia, IL. And every member of the leadership program was required to join. Therefore, we rented the van and carpooled from Fontbonne to the retreat center. Everyone was so excited because it was a retreat trip.

Before going to retreat, we had to do the strengths assessment through an on-line website called StrengthsQuest which is a very useful assessment to let you you’re your TOP5 strengths and to develop your strengths in academic, career, etc. We shared our TOP5 strengths during the retreat, also Janelle and Oscar gave some workshops about how could we use our strengths in our daily life.

After doing the assessment on-line, we had to share our Top 5 strengths with each other. I was so surprised everyone has very different strengths. We are so unique and valuable. For example, my top 5 strengths are “Positivity. Achiever. Maximizer. Responsibility. Arranger.” It was really useful and interesting. However, no one else had positivity for their strength. Some people had Communication, Discipline, Strategic, or Command in their Top 5 strengths. After sharing our strengths, we did a lot of workshops to learn how to use our strength well to contribute to our environment, and even the whole world.

In addition to doing some workshops, we also did something to be in nature! The weather was so nice last weekend, so we went hiking on the trail, and shared our life with each other. We also went camping in the night. We made the fire to keep warm, and also made the s’mores on the fire. It was my first time to make the s’mores with chocolate and cookie. I was so excited when they taught me how to do it with fire. We went camping in the night, for sure, someone shared some scary ghost stories during camping. I always leave when someone talks about scary story, however, I was not leaving this time, for they talked in English, haha, I just tried to play with my iPhone to try not to pay attention too much. I survived this time. I was so lucky. 😀

I really enjoyed our retreat this time, even though many people didn’t show up. There was so much fun there; especially since it was a small group. We shared and learned about our strengths. I called this retreat is “Sharing Weekend”: sharing, listening, and learning.

I’m looking forward to more sharing and more learning in this leadership program.

Our Writers

Hello! My name is Claire Downey. I am a freshman at Fontbonne University. I am a fashion merchandising major and I am from St. Peters, Missouri. I look forward to having you with me as I experience my journey at Fontbonne University!

My name is Anna and I am excited to share some fun details about life at Fontbonne and in the St. Louis area with you! I'm currently a freshman majoring in dietetics, I love to be outside, and I am a strong Christian!

I graduated from Fontbonne in 2012 with a BA in Human Service and am currently a grad student once again at Fontbonne studying for my MS in Instructional Design & Technology (IDT). I'm a mother of 2 wonderful young men ages 17 years & 15 years old. I love working as an independent contracting sign language interpreter/job coach and I look forward to embarking on my new journey within the career field of IDT.

Hello! My name is Mari and I am a freshman at Fontbonne. I am from Kansas City (Go Royals!). At FBU, I am involved in the GAP (Griffins Achieving Progress) program and I am the treasurer for the Latino Hispanic Union. I enjoy watching Gilmore Girls and trying new foods from different cultures.